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Reach Out and Touch Me: Effects of Four Distinct Haptic Technologies on Affective Touch in Virtual Reality

Research output: Contribution to book/anthology/report/proceedingArticle in proceedingsResearchpeer-review

DOI

  • Imtiaj Ahmed, Aalto University
  • ,
  • Ville Harjunen, Aalto University
  • ,
  • Giulio Jacucci, Univ Helsinki, Aalto University, University of Helsinki, Dept Comp Sci, HIIT
  • ,
  • Eve Hoggan
  • Niklas Ravaja, Aalto University
  • ,
  • Michiel M. Spape, Liverpool Hope Univ, Liverpool Hope University, University of Liverpool, Dept Psychol

Virtual reality presents an extraordinary platform for multimodal communication. Haptic technologies have been shown to provide an important contribution to this by facilitating co-presence and allowing affective communication. However, the findings of the affective influences rely on studies that have used myriad different types of haptic technology, making it likely that some forms of tactile feedback are more efficient in communicating emotions than others. To find out whether this is true and which haptic technologies are most effective, we measured user experience during a communication scenario featuring an affective agent and interpersonal touch in virtual reality. Interpersonal touch was simulated using two types of vibrotactile actuators and two types of force feedback mechanisms. Self-reports of subjective experience of the agent's touch and emotions were obtained. The results revealed that, regardless of the agent's expression, force feedback actuators were rated as more natural and resulted in greater emotional interdependence and a stronger sense of copresence than vibrotactile touch.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationICMI'16: PROCEEDINGS OF THE 18TH ACM INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MULTIMODAL INTERACTION
EditorsYI Nakano, E Andre, T Nishida, C Busso, C Pelachaud
Number of pages8
PublisherASSOC COMPUTING MACHINERY
Publication year2016
Pages341-348
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016
Externally publishedYes
Event18th ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction (ICMI) - Tokyo, Japan
Duration: 12 Nov 201616 Nov 2016

Conference

Conference18th ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction (ICMI)
LandJapan
ByTokyo
Periode12/11/201616/11/2016

    Research areas

  • Virtual reality, Haptic technologies, Affective communication, Facial expressions, EMOTION, COMMUNICATION

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